ELBURN—The Elburn Village Board on Monday approved a contract with Engineering Enterprises, Inc. for the modernization improvements to the village’s wastewater treatment facility.

The village will pay for the $7.6 million project with $1.5 million currently in the wastewater treatment plant fund, and the remainder with a low-interest loan through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The loan payments will be spread out over 20 years, and will be accomplished through an increase in residents’ sewer rates.

EEI engineer Jason Freeman described the impact to Elburn residents using examples of two different types of households. A family of four with average water use will pay about $74 per month for sewer services, while a two-person family should see a monthly bill of approximately $42 per month.

Freeman had told the board in a previous meeting that these increases will come out to about $40 a month for an average water user, although they will likely be phased in over time. Village President Dave Anderson said that, with additional growth, the cost will come down, as it will be spread among more people.

Trustee Ken Anderson said he wanted to make sure that the village would be able to adjust the rates as the population grows.

“I’d like to keep it as close to the real numbers as we can,” he said.

Village President Anderson emphasized that the need for the project is not due to projected population growth.

“Whether we stay the same population or quadruple growth, we still have to make these improvements,” he said.

The improvements will modernize the plant, but will not increase its capacity. Freeman said the improvements will allow the plant to work more efficiently and effectively.

The project is set up under a design/bid/build model, which means that EEI will do the engineering and design, and will bid out to a general contractor to manage the construction. The general contractor will hire subcontractors to perform the construction. EEI will be on-site to monitor the work.

Trustee Bill Grabarek suggested a few modifications to the language of the contract that would strengthen performance warranties, to which EEI principal Dave Burroughs agreed.

The project, which is set to begin this month, is scheduled for final completion by the end of 2015.